


I Hate That I Love You

by SleepyRena



Category: Finder no Hyouteki | Finder Series
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Mpreg, Out of Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2018-08-31 09:40:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8573416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyRena/pseuds/SleepyRena
Summary: Akihito leaves for New York after a bad breakup





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heyy guysss Rena here! Anyway i was listening to my friend sing and she sang "I Hate U, I Love U" by gnash then I suddenly was inspired to write a fic based off the lyrics. Do note that the fic is set before Akihito moved in with Asami so their relationship isn't very stable. Anyway I hope you enjoy :D

“So tell me honestly Asami, am I just a replacement for her? Something for you to play with just to get over your break up? Do I look like her Asami? Do I act like her? Do you imagine me as her as you fuck me every night? Do You? ” demanded Akihito. Tears rolled down cheeks causing the collar of this white tank top to stick to his skin. His vision was nothing but a blur but he was sure Asami wore his usual impassive attitude. Akihito was a fool. He caused his own downfall. Fucking does not equal to love, it never did and it never will. It was a fact that everyone knew but Akihito chose to ignore it, he hoped Asami would love him back in time just as he did. 

 

Asami took a long drag from his Dunhill cigar before he answered Akihito. It was a long day, a lot had happen and he needed to settle things with Akihito first before he can rest. “Well it’s good that you know your place, saves me the effort to explain to you. Now get out. We’re done.” Akihito wasn’t surprised at Asami’s answer, he knew this would happen one day, he knew deep down in his heart, he just denied it. Sometimes his mind will tell him that it was all a lie, Asami was just using him but he still refused to believe it, he didn’t think, he shoved his brain down his ass, he chose to listen to his heart and then shit happened. This was just the inevitable, it's the aftermath of not thinking. Akihito had prayed that Asami would say no so they can go back to what they were but God didn’t answer him. 

 

Akihito smiled. That was all he could do. Smile. Asami told him his smile was beautiful and so Asami will remember Akihito as beautiful not a crying mess, his smile will be burnt into Asami's memory, he will go down in history as beautiful. As more tears pooled in his eyes, causing the handsome face in front of him to blur he said “I loved you” and left the penthouse. All he had was his wallet, cellphone and camera bag. Tears still left his eyes as he walked down the the street of Asami's penthouse building in Shinjuku. 

Akihito walked through the streets of Tokyo idly like a mindless zombie, no purpose, no motive, no direction. People cursed at him when he bumped into him but he paid them no heed. The wet pavement after the rain had caused Akihito to slip and fall but he didn't care, he laid there on the pavement until a policeman came to check up on him. Tree branches scraped him but he just let himself bleed, maybe the physical pain can overwrite the ache in his heart. When his idle wander came to an end, Akihito sat down on a bench in a quiet park. He laughed. “STUPID!” he shouted as tears began to form again. Asami could’ve chose anyone in the world, of course he wouldn’t be serious with Akihito, after all Akihito was just a penniless photographer. “Stupid,” he muttered again, this time softly before he fell asleep on the bench. 

 

When morning came, Akihito jumped on the earliest train to visit his mother in a small village called Tokane in the Gifu Prefecture. He remembered something his mother told him when he was young. He thought it never made sense but after what had happen it made perfect sense. She said the best kind of sleep are the dreamless sleep. Good dreams or bad dreams they are both a curse. Good dreams were the worst she said. You have the happiest time in a good dream but once you wake up, the realisation that everything was a lie is just too cruel. Reality is just as cold and hard as ever but after you wake up from your good dream, no happiness in the real world can compare to that dream. You’ll never attain the happiness, the joy, the comfort, the warmth you’ve experienced in the dream. Guess Asami was Akihito’s good dream. The only saving grace about bad dreams is that at least when you wake up you know that everything was a lie. Now Akihito wished Asami had been his bad dream. 

 

Akihito bought some red spider lilies on the way to visit his mother. His mother was always a weird one, her favourite flower represented death. She also once said death is a blessing not a curse. When the doctor told she only had 3 months left all she did was smile and live life as it is, she wasn’t affected at all. She even seemed more at peace than she ever was. Akihito’s mother, Takaba Nanami always seemed like she was running away from something or someone. When she learnt that she was going to die she was probably happy that whatever she was running away from for her entire life can finally come to an end. Even when she died, he face was so peaceful, there wasn’t any sign or pain or suffering, it looked like she was just sleeping. 

 

The place where his mother’s grave sat was peaceful, it was under an ancient maple tree overseeing an open plain. Akihito used his hand to sweep away the dirt on his mother gravestone, after it was cleaned one can finally see the name craved onto it, Takaba Nanami. Akihito laid the flowers on the grave and sat next to it. “Kaa-san, I’m here to visit you again, I got you your favourite spider lilies, I hope you’ll like it. Kaa-san you chose a nice spot to rest for eternity, it’s really peaceful here and the view is breathtaking but it’s really far, it’s such a pain to come visit you, don’t blame me if I stop visiting you one day, it’s just too much of a pain. HAHHAAHA just joking kaa-san, I won’t leave you behind but I'll move you somewhere else, somewhere more convenient for me when I’m old, and having trouble walking, you can’t possibly expect me to hike all the way here right?" Akihito paused for a moment before continuing "Hey kaa-san I think I never told you but I met this guy, he’s rich, handsome, powerful and dangerous, probably the perfect man and I sort of dated him. Okay I slept with him, we didn’t date. Many times. Anyway I grew to love him and that was the death of me, well you once said death was a blessing and now I think I finally understand you. Yea so today he dumped me and here I am, broken-hearted, talking to you,” Akihito began to cry. “Kaa-san I miss you, I wish you’re here so I can curl up on your lap like when I was small and just cry but now all I have is this maple tree and a cold gravestone to talk to. You could’ve done the surgery for your illness so why didn’t you do it? Why did you leave me alone kaa-san? Why? Did you know how lonely I became after you left me? I got picked on at school for my weird colouring, they said you were a whore and you died of AIDS. I got so angry. I got so sad. They were lying. You weren’t a whore. Kaa-san why did you raise me alone? Where was dad? Why wasn’t dad with us? Now when I really need family I don’t have anyone, I’m all alone kaa-san. I’m so alone. Hey kaa-san you know you could’ve told me the truth, I would never blame you. You thought I’d never guess? I do have odd colouring for a Japanese after all. Blonde hair and blue eyes, is that what my dad has? Is that what James Larson has? Well I think I might just find out. I’m leaving kaa-san, I’m done with Japan. Kaa-san I guess this is moving on.” Akihito took a deep breath before saying “Kaa-san I love you.” 

 

Akihito headed back to town and cleaned up his dusty home where he lived him until he moved to Tokyo to pursue his dream as a crime photographer. After cleaning the house, he whipped out his phone and stared at the contact under the name “Emma Larson”. After Akihito’s mother died, Akihito contacted his father to inform him about his mother’s passing, he thought he should know even if he was unsure of their relationship. His mother left a letter for him and his father’s number for him to call in the case of an emergency. His father was shocked to find out his lover had died, and she birthed him a son. From then onwards his father made it a point to call him once a month. Akihito found out he has two half-sisters, Emma and Elissa. Emma was older than him by 5 years and Elissa was the same age as him. His stepmother, Vivienne died of cancer when Akihito was 10. Every year, the Larsons would send otoshidama* to Akihito and a gift for his birthday and he would do the same for them for Christmas and their birthdays. 

 

Akihito was close with his family. His father calls hims once a month until he died while he regularly texts and skypes Emma and Elissa, he told them about Kou and Takato, he told them about his passions, his dreams, his job and of course he told them about Asami. He often talked to them about Asami, he couldn’t talk to Kou or Takato about Asami unless he wanted to endure a lifetime worth of teasing which he doesn’t want, he would die from the embarrassment. They didn’t know about his underworld dealings, nobody knew except for himself. Akihito was glad that Emma and Elissa accepted him even though he was seeing a man. Sort of. Him and Asami were more like friends with benefits. Maybe not, he wasn’t even sure if he and Asami were friends at all. Well basically their relationship was undefined and mainly consists of mind blowing sex, office sex, car sex, and more sex. It seemed like their relationship was built purely on sex and when the sex got boring (at least for Asami), of course the relationship would crumble. Akihito blushed at the thought. 

 

Akihito stared at his phone. He didn’t what he was waiting for. Maybe he was waiting for Asami to come by and sweep him off his feet. Maybe he was waiting to be dragged back to the penthouse and be locked in the secret room. Maybe he was waiting for a call from Asami to tell him to be a good boy and return home. But whatever he was waiting for never came. After a week of waiting, Akihito finally decided to text Emma and join his family in New York. If Asami wanted him, he would’ve came long ago, all this waiting was just wasting his youth. If Asami doesn’t want Akihito back then Akihito won’t go back. 

From: Akihito  
To: Emma Larson  
I want to go to New York. Can you book me a flight? 

From: Emma Larson  
To: Takaba Akihito  
Why so sudden? Are you in trouble? 

From: Akihito  
To: Emma Larson  
Relationship problems 

From: Emma Larson  
To: Takaba Akihito  
Alright I’ll book you a flight for tomorrow morning

From: Takaba Akihito  
To: Emma Larson  
Thanks 

From: Emma Larson  
To: Takaba Akihito  
Be at Narita by 9am. Your flight is at 1030am. See you soon Akihito :’) 

From: Takaba Akihito  
To: Emma Larson  
See you soon. :p 

The next morning, Akihito settled down in Narita International Airport’s first class lounge as he awaits for his flight. He was surprised that Emma had booked him a first class flight to New York but he couldn’t do anything about it. The Larsons to his knowledge were very wealthy but he didn’t know to what extent. He didn’t really care about their wealth and status anyway, he was content with Emma and Elissa treating him like real family even after their father died last year. They could’ve just cut their ties with him but after their father’s death, the girls and Akihito grew even closer. He thanked Emma for booking the first class flight, if not he would have puked all over the toilet floor as he waited in the long line to use the public toilet. He has been experiencing morning sickness recently but he didn’t bother since his mind had been occupied with thoughts of Asami 24/7. He probably would need to see a doctor in New York if it continued. 

 

All the while waiting, Akihito looked around, he hoped he would find Asami’s men or Asami himself to bring him back. Somehow he knew Asami wouldn’t come but he still hoped for it just like he hoped Asami would love him. Akihito even chose to board the plane last but the first class lounge was still devoid of Asami’s presence. Akihito looked out of the window as the plane gradually rose above the ground, he muttered under his breath “Goodbye Asami.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 3am over here at some part of equator. Sorry for the mistakes and if there are any inconsistencies.

An air stewardess dressed in the usual ANA cabin crew uniform of navy blue blazer and pencil skirt with a light blue scarf tied around their neck woke Akihito up. The plane was about to land so he had to sit upright and buckle his seat belt. The familiar sound of the bell before an announcement rang throughout the whole plane as the cabin crew made their way from the one end to the other end of their plane reminding everyone to sit upright and buckle their seat belts. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, we are about to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport, it is currently 8:53am local time, the weather is clear and the temperature is 24⁰C or 75⁰F, we hope you had a pleasant flight, I am your captain Tanaka Daiki speaking and I thank you on behalf of the whole cabin crew for choosing ANA Airlines. We hope to see you again.” The same announcement was repeated again in Japanese. 

 

As Akihito made his way out of the airport he saw a happy couple with their hand interlocked in the others. Smiles were plastered across their faces causing their eyes to become nothing but a line. An air of love around them was infectious, anyone who was in a radius of a mile could feel their love for each other. The way they looked at each other was so beautiful, trust, longing, happiness and love could be seen in their eyes. “That could’ve been us Asami,” he said under his breath bitterly. But that could never be them. Asami didn’t smile he smirks, they would have a fleet of men clad in black suits behind them, instead of an air of love around they would have an air of “Keep away if you want to live” or “If you don’t want your life then keep staring at Akihito’s ass”. Besides, Asami would never look at him like that, he always wore his mask, he would probably look at her like that. 

 

After Akihito left the immigration, a middle age Japanese man dressed in a grey suit paired with brown oxfords came up to him. “Takaba-sama, Emma-sama sent me to come pick you,” said the man. “And you are?” asked Akihito. “Pardon my rudeness Takaba-sama, I am the Emma-sama’s secretary, Tachibana Hiro, I used to be your father’s secretary but after his passing Emma-sama allowed me to keep my job so now I work for Emma-sama,” said Tachibana as he passed Akihito his name card. Akihito nodded and followed him to the Bentley parked at the front door of the airport. Akihito didn’t have the energy to complain, he was jet lagged and all he wanted to do was sleep. Once he settled inside the car, he dozed off into a sleep full of dreams about Asami. 

 

Akihito was given a tour of Emma’s penthouse in Manhattan by Tachibana. The apartment had two floors, the living room, kitchen, dining room made up the first while the 3 bedrooms and study made up the second. Once you open the door, a ceiling to floor window from the second to the first floor came into view. On your right was the stairs to second floor, which was also a bookshelf. Adjacent to the bookshelf stairs was the living room, the cream coloured couch was facing a 65” television. The television was also hooked up to a PS4. There was a small hallway between the stairs and the living room which led to the toilet and the balcony that has a pool bearing the same design as the Marina Bay Sands Infinity Pool. The kitchen was well equipped and with a fridge that actually has fresh food not pre-cooked food like Asami’s. The solid wooden rectangular dining table could seat 8 people and it was right in front of the kitchen. Right next to the ceiling to floor window was a 7 foot sleek black grand piano by Steinway and Sons. Unlike Asami’s penthouse where each room was clearly divided, Emma’s living room, kitchen and dining room merged into one. 

 

Akihito settled into the master bedroom which was vacant since his father’s passing. Emma and Elissa preferred to sleep in their respective rooms. Akihito’s father was an avid reader, judging from 3 out of 4 walls of his bedroom were bookshelves packed to the brim. According to Tachibana, the whole Larson family loved reading, they even have an apartment one floor below just to store their books. They also hired someone to clean the books, making sure dust doesn’t collect in between the pages, making sure mold doesn’t grow on the books too. The humidity, air, temperature, light intensity were all controlled to make sure the books could be preserved for as long as time. 

 

Akihito woke up around evening. The warm yellowish sunlight illuminated the entire house, giving it a warm feeling of home. Akihito emptied his stomach before heading to make himself a sandwich for dinner. He really needed to see a doctor for his morning sickness. That was when he received a message from his sister Emma. 

 

From Emma Larson  
To Takaba Akihito  
Something urgent came up. I’ll be flying to Washington to settle some matters. I’ll be home in three days. The fridge is fully stocked, feel free to do anything you like. If you have any trouble just call Tachibana he’ll sort things out. See you in three days and I’m sorry. 

From Takaba Akihito  
To Emma Larson  
Sure thing. I can handle myself. 

 

Akihito decided to text Elissa since he hasn’t heard from her in a while. 

 

From Takaba Akihito  
To Elissa Larson  
Eli where are you? Btw I’m at your house freeloading. 

 

Akihito waited 10 minutes but there was no reply. It wasn’t a rare occurrence. Elissa would often go missing for a few days, not answering any calls or messages. She’s a free spirit just like Akihito. She loves her freedom, she would rather die than do anything she doesn’t want to. 

 

Akihito began to think about Asami. Every time when there wasn’t anything on his mind, his mind will begin to wander, and every single time his mind will begin to think about Asami. Asami used to go on impromptu business trips although Akihito never openly said it but he hated when Asami go on business trips, it leaves him lonely. “CAN YOU STOP THINKING ABOUT ASAMI HE DOESN’T WANT YOU ANYMORE!” shouted Akihito at the top of his lungs. He skipped the sandwich and began to search for alcohol, that what he normally does, when he has any problems he would go drinking with Kou and Takato, now he doesn’t have them but at least he can drown his sorrows in alcohol. The Larsons were rich and the rich always have alcohol, be it whiskey, vodka, wine or beer, they definitely have alcohol somewhere. 

 

After searching high and low, Akihito finally found wine cabinet. He took the first bottle from the rack, he didn’t care whatever it was, he just drank from the bottle. He didn’t want to think about Asami. He didn’t want to go to sleep, sleep was plagued by Asami. He didn’t want to see that handsome face. He didn’t want to hear that sinful voice. He didn’t want to feel his touch against his skin. All he wants is to forget and move on but his mind isn’t letting him. Every time he closes his eyes, he can see Asami, hear Asami, feel Asami. It wasn’t he who didn’t want to let go, the past was just holding him captive. Akihito didn’t know how many bottles he drank but for once after that horrible breakup he finally dozed off into a dreamless sleep. 

 

*** 

“Hey you drunk retard, wake up.” Akihito felt like he was just hit by a truck. His head hurt. His shoulders hurt. His neck hurt and his dick hurt. Akihito opened his eye to Elissa’s feet crushing his dick. His upper half of his body was on the floor while his lower half remained on the sofa. “I believe you have quite a hangover, take these it’ll help,” said Elissa as she threw the med next to his head. Akihito slowly got up got up and when he did he felt the contents of his stomach stirring again. He ran to the toilet as fast as he could.  
“I came home to my drunk half-brother who just emptied half the wine cabinet. Thank god you didn’t puke all over the floor if not I’ll have one hell of a time cleaning up,” Akihito heard Elissa said from the living room. When he came out, all the bottles were gone and she was sitting on a perfectly made couch browsing through the channels for something to watch on the television. “Thanks,” said Akihito weakly, he still felt disoriented from the hangover and the puking but at least his head hurt less. “Well lucky you, you didn’t finish Emma’s favourite if not you’ll be slaughtered. I don’t want to be attending the funeral of my lovely half-brother who just arrived for about 24 hours,” she said casually. “I’ll pay back for the wine when I get a job just tell me how much is the total.” 

“Don’t sweat about it man, it’s understandable, this is like the typical after breakup behaviour.” 

“No seriously, I will pay for it just tell me the total amount.” 

“Ermm, I think this would be a minimum of ten thousand USD.” Akihito’s jaw dropped at the answer. He should’ve known, Asami’s spirits were all imported and cost a fortune, the Larsons were no different, after all they were rich. They didn’t need to worry about making ends meet, they would probably worry about how many percent did their stocks drop today and why didn’t that company signed the contract. The Larsons, Asami and him were from totally different worlds. He felt so out of place, that’s probably why Asami didn’t choose him, he chose her, he didn’t belong in their world of haute couture. The thought of Asami made Akihito depressed again. 

 

“Hey you want to go grab some breakfast, a new café just opened right around the corner and I haven’t had the chance to try it.” Akihito refused, anything would be tasteless without Asami. “No thanks, I’m not hungry.” Elissa rolled her eyes at the answer. “You’re self-destructing aren’t you? There’s no point in it okay? He isn’t here to see you be depressed and all. He doesn’t give two shits about you. If you’re going to die, no one would care. Emma wouldn’t care, Asami wouldn’t care nor would I. You’re gonna have a funeral with just three people to attend, that being Emma, Tachibana and I and no one would shed a single tear for you. Emma and I may be your half-sisters but then we aren’t that close, you dying might just equal to the cleaning lady who cleans this apartment dying, we know her, we will feel sad for a while but we don’t care. We’ll just hire another person to clean this house. Your death won’t affect us in any way possible. Face it Akihito there’s no point in any of this. Get back on your feet and take your revenge. That’s what I’ll do. Show him you’re not a wimp. Show him you can stand on your own feet. Show him that you don’t need him to be there saying “Go Akihito! You can do it!” Whatever point you’re trying to prove now is stupid and useless. You’re just wasting resources, freeloading, causing trouble for Emma and showing the three of us how much of a wreck you can be.” 

 

Akihito felt his anger boil. What does she know about him and Asami? How would she know how much he loved him? And she was his family shouldn’t she be supporting him instead? “How would you know?! You haven’t loved as hard as me! You wouldn’t know the pain!” shouted Akihito. “So? The world doesn’t stop just because someone lost the love of their life. The world is cruel. Nobody is going to care that you gone through a bad breakup. So are you going to freeload here for the rest of your life and be nothing more than a parasite? Think about what I said. I’m going to go eat some breakfast,” said Elissa before walked out of the house fuming. 

 

Akihito didn’t know what to do. Elissa had some truth in her words. Was he going to be like this for the rest of his life? Stop here just because of Asami? He didn’t know what to do. Akihito was lost. He took out his phone and decided to call for Kou. 

 

“What the hell Akihito it’s 1 in the morning. Anyway what happened to you Akihito I thought you were dead. Did you forget to pay your rent again so you need a place to stay right now?” 

“Shit happened. Basically Asami and I broke up and I’m New York right now with my half-sisters,” 

“I’m sorry man, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?” Asked Kou. His voice was much gentler this time. 

“Kou I’m lost I don’t know what to do. It hurts so much. I just got scolded by my sister for drinking half of her wine stock. I got scolded for refusing to eat. I got labelled as a parasite.” 

“Aki…… I know how much it hurts. I know. Remember Mayumi back in high school. I cried so hard when we broke up but you guys were there. You and Takato were there to help me get on my two feet. I know how much it hurts but you have to move on. You can’t just stop here. You can’t let your whole ruin get ruined just because of a bad breakup. There is so much more to life than this. Remember you said you wanted to go sky diving? Remember you said you wanted to learn how to play a piano? Remember you said you wanted to go on a holiday with Takato and me? Do you remember Aki? There are so many more things to life than Asami. Imagine if you die tomorrow, will you die happy? Will you die feeling content? I bet you won’t. There are so many things to accomplish in life so why are you stopping now just because Asami isn’t here?” 

“But…… It just hurts so much……” 

“Aki just let it all out. Just cry. Let it all out. Cry like you never cried before because this will be the last time you cry over Asami okay?” 

It was as if a river broke it banks. All the tears Akihito had in store for a lifetime came out like a tsunami. He cried over the phone, over Kou gentle, soothing hushes. After about 10 minutes, Akihito realized that it was 1am in the morning in Japan and Kou has work tomorrow. He thanked Kou and hung up so Kou could get some shut eye. It was Sunday here but over there it was already Monday. Akihito gave a lot of thought to Elissa’s and Kou’s words in the dead silence of the apartment but his train of thought was soon put to a stop by the return of Elissa.

 

“So made up your mind yet?” asked Elissa. Akihito nodded. “What are you going to do then? If you want a job Emma would be more than happy to give a place for you in the company. I’m also working at the company, in the financial department, it’s not some high position, dad believed in working from the lowest and making your way to the highest.” Akihito said he doesn’t know yet but he’ll think about it. Elissa sat down next to Akihito. “Let me tell you something. When mom died, Emma and I cried so hard. We didn’t want to go to school. We didn’t want to do anything. We didn’t want to eat. Anything but mom’s cooking was tasteless but dad he went to work like normal. He ate like normal. He was totally normal like nothing happened at all. I was pissed. One day I went up to him all furious and I asked him did you love mom at all. He looked at me and said he did. Then I asked him why wasn’t he sad at all. He gave me a life lesson I will remember for my whole life. He said the world won’t stop for you. If he stopped working, then the company would crumble and we would all starve. The world doesn’t stop for anyone, no matter what happens we have to stay strong and move at the pace the world moves if you want to survive that is.” 

 

“Anyway, enough of this depressing shit. Since you’re finally not being stupid, let’s do something fun. I just bought some chips, let’s watch some movies shall we?” Elissa jumped out of her seat and head to the DVD rack to pick out a movie. “Horror movies please,” requested Akihito. Elissa looked at him with a smirk “You are my half-brother after all. I love horror movies too. Let’s watch Conjuring 2 then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooh I know this is a kinda boring chapter but after this Aki will find out he's pregnant!!! I'm still tryna figure out how he's gonna find out but I want him to find out in a hilarious way. As usual thanks for reading, supporting, leaving kudos, commenting, reviewing and sorry for bad writing. BTW if you're wondering why the *** is on the left instead of the middle. I like to type it all out in word first then paste everything here so I'm not using the rich text thingy thing. Nightss!


	3. Chapter 3

Akihito woke up around afternoon, Eli and he had a good time yesterday. They watched both instalments of The Conjuring and all the 3 episodes of Insidious, they played the gruelling Dark Souls 3 on their PS4 and wrapped the day at the café around the corner. He was just done washing his face in the white porcelain basin, he looked into the mirror and screamed. “JESUS H CHRIST! WHAT THE FUCK!” Elissa cosplayed as Valak from The Conjuring 2 and stood at the back of him. Akihito began to sweat Hurricane Kathrinas out of fear but soon his eyes widened in recognition. “FOR FUCK’S SAKE ELI DON’T SCARE ME LIKE THAT! DO YOU WANT ME TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK?!” he screamed as Eli began laughing until she couldn’t breathe. “You should see the look you had. Pure horror. Aki. Pure horror. Anyway if you have a heart attack, don’t worry, I’ll make the funeral all nice and grand. Aren’t I such a considerate sweet sister?” 

 

After finishing off from where he left off, Akihito walked down to a table full of food. Apparently Eli decided that they are going to have a party for the two of them just to celebrate his arrival in New York. She bought so much food she could feed a whole United States Naval Force. Akihito made his way to the kitchen to help her chop up some vegetables but was force to retreat by a pungent smell. “Oh god Eli what did you just buy?” he said as he looked at her from across the room. “It’s just a celery Aki. Don’t tell me you’re scared of this” she said as she waved the stalk of celery. Akihito held his breath and stole the celery from her hand and threw it into the rubbish bin. That was when Eli took out another stalk and waved it in front of his face. Unable to hold his breath any longer and not wanting to die, he breathe but the smell of the celery made his stomach churn. Within the next second he puked all over her. 

 

“EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW” she screeched. “OH LORD JESUS. GOD DAMN IT. YOU JUST PUKED ALL OVER ME! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?! Aki go to my room and get me a change of clothes. You just ruin my custom made Valak costume. Damn it now I don’t have anything for Halloween. !” 

“Serves you right for waving that spawn of the devil at me. Karma is a bitch and why do I need to bring clothes for you? You made this mess.”

“Well do you want your puke to drip around in the whole house?” she said as she began to strip in front of Aki. 

“WHY ARE YOU STRIPPING?” exclaimed Akihito as he covered his eyes with his palm. A furious blush bloomed on his cheeks. 

 

“Well would you wear puke?” she said as she made her way to one of the closets to get a mop. Akihito had a hard time looking for something suitable for her to wear. Her walk-in wardrobe was humongous. He found two drawer of rings, a whole cabinet dedicated to earrings and necklaces before he could find the clothes he was joined by a barely naked Eli. She walked around in her bra and panties naturally and she wasn’t one bit ashamed they were mismatched. Her bra was a black one while her panties were lacy pink ones. Akihito blushed furiously once more at the sight. 

 

“Why are you taking so long? I already cleaned the kitchen,” she said as Akihito opened another drawer to find pads, tampons, condoms and pregnancy tests. Akihito slammed the drawer shut. “What you haven’t seen these before?” she asked as she opened the drawer again. “You know what pads and tampons are right?” Aki shook his head, his embarrassment as clear as day but Eli continued to tease him. “I forgot how reserved the Japanese are. Anyway these are for that time of the month. You know? Niagara Falls of blood? During that time, you insert a tampon up your vagina or you can stick a pad on your panties. I use both. It depends on my mood honestly” she explained with a straight face. She even took out a tampon and a pad and showed him how to use one. 

 

“Oh yah if you’re planning to have sex at home and you forgot to buy condoms, you can take it from here. I got every type. From flavoured condoms to the glow in the dark ones. I think I also have every brand, Durex, Trojan, Plea-“ she was interrupted by Akihito shouting stop. He was beet red from one ear to the other. “Come on these are just pads, tampons and condoms. If you’re planning to go back to liking girls, having extensive knowledge on periods really plus points. And if you’re planning to stay gay, you’ll still use condoms. Why are you embarrassed?” she asked nonchalantly. 

 

***

 

They spent the whole day cooking so much party food it could feed the homeless of New York for a week. Akihito didn’t know why his arrival in New York was being celebrated but they partied so hard that the thump of the beat shook the whole building. “Eli we ran out of boozzeee,” said a drunk Akihito. “No worries. Eli is here, all your problems will be solved.” She made her way to the wine cabinet and took out a bottle from the lowest rack. “HOHOHOHO, BEHOLD THE JEWEL. This is Em’s private stash. This bottle here itself is one grand. One grand. One. Grand.” She emphasised on the price as she removed the cork from its bottle. “Tis sir is an exquisite 2009 Chateau Margaux,” she said in her faux French accent while her thumb and index finger made a circle. 

 

Akihito looked into his glass as he swirled the red liquid in it. “When you’re in a relationship. No matter how intoxicated you are, always use your brain if you not you’ll end up in some foreign land getting bullied by your half-sibling.” Eli looked at Akihito “please don’t go drunk venting. Nobody wants that. You should shove that mouth of yours into your ass.” Akihito laughed at that comment because that was what he did with his brain. “You know what if you like shoving stuff up your ass you should try shoving a pregnancy test, you can probably get positive results at last since shoving a dick and your brain up your ass wrecked you,” she said. “What I’m not pregnant? And how could I? I’m a man I have a freaking dick!” exclaimed Akihito. He took of his pants and pointed at the bulge at his boxers. “This is an asset. It’s like boobs, the bigger the better and I’m pretty proud to say I’m sorta above average though not as big as Asami. He. Is. A. Monster,” he said and showing Elissa how big it was with his hands. “Oh so you’re finally open about sex and stuff when you’re drunk. TMI Aki. TMI. And yes you are pregnant. You’re pregnant with regrets, self-pity and profound sadness.” Elissa got a pregnancy test from her room and threw it at Akihito.

 

“Do it. Show me you aren’t pregnant. I don’t want three depressing cousins wailing in the house after 9 months.” Akihito took the test and went into the toilet on the first floor. “How do I use this? I’m not a girl!” He shouted from the toilet. “I must’ve overestimated your ability to read!” Akihito followed the instructions on the box and proceed to do the deed. He thought what harm can there be anyway. It’s now like he can get pregnant anyway. 

 

“I still don’t understand why you want me to do this anyway it’s not like I can get pregnant.” Akihito exited the toilet and threw the test at Elissa. “Yea so now since you’ve proved that you’re not pregnant with regrets, self-pity and profound sadness, please stop talking about the past. It’s not like it can change anything, the only thing it does is annoy everyone including yourself. Well if venting can make any difference, I’d vent 24 hours for 365 days, probably mom and dad can return from the dead and my high school boyfriend didn’t dump me in front of the whole school.” Akihito sat quietly in deep thought about Asami. Elissa got pissed, it was as if she was psychic, she must’ve knew Akihito was thinking about Asami. She put the pregnancy test just a few centimetres away from his face and stressed that he wasn’t pregnant with regrets, self-pity and profound sadness. Akihito sobered up instantly. “Stop.” He took the pregnancy test and took another good look at it. It couldn’t be, he saw the faintest second line which meant he was pregnant. “Eli look at this tell me I’m not pregnant.” Elissa took the pregnancy test from him. He eyes widened when she noticed the faint second red line. She even took out a LED torchlight to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. Without a second thought, she ran up into the master bedroom to retrieve her father’s medical records. “What are you looking for?” asked Akihito. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried. “Shut up okay? This is serious,” she said firmly. She stopped at one of the pages of her father’s medical records and shouted a profanity. 

 

She picked up her telephone and dialed for Tachibana. She requested Tachibana to arrange an appointment with Dr. Cameron for tomorrow afternoon. Akihito sat down next to her and asked what was wrong, worry was all over his face. “Okay this might be very shocking for you but just listen okay? And stop drinking the wine. You already had enough,” she said as she took Akihito’s wine and put it on the coffee table. “You’re 99.99% pregnant.” She let that sink in for a minute. Various expression crossed Akihito’s face, from confusion, to anger, to devastation. “So certain males can get pregnant, it’s a genetic thing, the ability is passed down from father to son. f Normally, it is known that you have the ability, it’s on your birth certificate and other official papers. The government keeps track. Dad was afraid that name of the family and the company will be affected when they find out that he was one of “them”, so he pulled some strings and so his papers doesn’t state that he is one. So you’re his son and naturally you’ll have the ability to carry children like women,” she said calmly, 

 

Silence engulfed the whole room. It was dead silent just like an empty music hall, you could hear your heart beating in your ears. “Do you want to keep it?” Elissa asked breaking the still silence between them. “Of course I’m keeping it! I don’t want to be a murderer! It’s still a life!” As if it was a flick of a switch the question got Akihito out of his stupor. “It’s Asami’s right?” Akihito nodded slowly at the question. Mentioning his name roused many contradicting emotions within Akihito. On one hand he was happy, excited, exhilarated, he wanted to tell Asami about the baby, they were going to fathers soon. On the other hand he was sad, defeated, he wasn’t sure that Asami would accept him or the child. After all he wasn’t normal. And he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go back to Asami. Asami never loved him anyway, he was just a replacement for her. 

 

“Are you going to tell Asami?” All she got for an answer was a quiet I don’t know. After another few minutes she asked again, “Do you want him to be able to find you?” She wasn’t sure what happened between Akihito and Asami but whatever that happened was bad enough for Akihito to come hide in New York. She didn’t want to pry either, there’s no point asking Akihito, if he was comfortable enough to tell her what had happened he would’ve the first minute he saw her. No point in reopening his wounds by asking him to recall what had happened. 

 

“No.” Akihito gave Asami a week to go and get him but he didn’t. He had gave Asami a chance until the last second but still he didn’t take it. If Asami really wanted Akihito back he would’ve chased for him the minute he walked out that door. No. He wasn’t going to let Asami come back into his life and mess it all up. Elissa texted Tachibana and asked him to make sure the records of Akihito ever leaving Japan would be wiped out. Takaba Akihito will disappear into thin air. And that was how Asami lost Akihito for eight years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Sorry for the late update. I was out and about, didn't had the time to sit down and write. Anyway in the next chapter, Asami will make an appearance, so as his child. As usual, thanks so much for reading, commenting, leaving kudos and supporting. Sorry for bad writing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello it's Rena here! Firstly, I'm so sorry for the hiatus, I had a terrible writer's block and nothing was flowing even until now. I couldn't really grasp the character of new Aki, Emma and Aki's daughter so I decided to write this chapter. It's helps me get to know them a little better. It's sort of an omake but not really an omake. Secondly, I have changed how long Aki was away from Asami from 5 to 8. Their daughter plays a huge role in this fic, it would be really really weird if a four year old was this smart it seem more logical if she was seven. Thanks for reading. 
> 
>  
> 
> PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE

Akihito was sitting on the table with Elissa on his left, waiting for Emma to finish cooking their breakfast. He was drinking a cup of soya milk instead of his usual coffee because he found out that the child in his womb was a girl and the soya milk was supposed to make her skin fair, smooth and supple. Tachibana's Chinese wife, Zhang Ge had been really excited when she heard Akihito was pregnant with a girl. She had always wanted children but she has G6PD and Thalassemia which were hereditary so the Tachibanas decided to abandon the idea of having a child long ago. She listed out a long list of food Akihito had to consume throughout his pregnancy. 

"Good luck eating that," said Elissa sympathetically while patting Akihito's shoulders when Emma served his breakfast. It looked like a harmless bowl of plain porridge but don't be deceived by it looks, it as foul as the soul of a kitten murderer. 

"You gotta finish it. Remember what Zhang Ge said, Ginko is to make her smart, anchovies so that she has strong bones and pumpkin is very nutritious." Emma sat down with an appetising plate of bacon, eggs and toast on a side of orange juice. 

"Yea yea I know," answered Akihito miserably while digging into his porridge. 

"Py da wey, wat's er name?" Elissa asked which her mouth full of toast. 

"I haven't decided yet but I have a few in mind. What do you guys suggest?" Akihito face lightened up immediately, totally forgetting about the disgusting porridge he had been eating. 

"Jennifer," answered Emma instantly. 

"Bitch name." 

"Ashley."

"Bitch."

"Brittany.'" 

"Bitch." 

"Jessica."

"Bitch." 

"Naomi." 

"Are bitch names all you got?" 

"Well why don't you try giving something less bitchy than you are." 

"I was thinking something rare. You know the name that's spelled a-b-c-d-e, it's pronounced "Absidy" and it sounds and looks really cool." 

"That's stupid. Why would someone name their child abcde. Jesus bless that poor soul for the humiliation he's gonna face in middle school." 

"WAIT HOW ABOUT SOMETHING CLASSY AND FANCY LIKE KING ARTHUR'S WIFE, GUINEVERE!" 

"And you forgot she cheated on him with his best friend"

"SO WHAT? GUINEVERE IS DAMN NICE!"

"Provided if we're in the 12th century where people still think that rocks have spirits." 

"Please at least she doesn't sound like a bitch,"

"Actually I want her to have a Japanese name. She's 100% Japanese anyway." Akihito interrupted the two's bickering, if he didn't, they'd argue until Christmas comes.   

"That's great," the two sister's said in unison. 

"Hey," they said again. 

"How about Hana? It means flower," asked Akihito before they start doing their thing again.

"You know Hannah on top of the bitch name list? The bitch who stole my boyfriend was called Hannah." 

"The one during high school?"

"Yeap that exact one. God she was an ugly one too. And who the hell names their daughter flower. Flowers are useless, they sit there do nothing and wither and smell bad." 

"Erm then how about Kyoko? It's a common name in Japan," 

"Cock-o? Nope," 

"Then how about Akari? It's unisex, it sounds like a name someone cool would have," 

"NOOOPE! Remember her surname is Asami, if she's going to be named Akari then her initials would be AA. It freaking stands for Alcoholic Anonymous and I hated that place." 

"YOU WERE IN ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS?! WHY AM I NOT AWARE?" Shouted Emma in surprise. 

"GOD! YOU'RE NOT MY MOM I DON'T NEED TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING! I THOUGHT YOU KNEW SINCE TACHIBANA KNEW." 

"TACHIBANA KNEW?!" 

"OF COURSE HE DOES! HE SENT ME THERE IN THE FIRST Plaa...ce.." said Elissa who lowered her voice when she notice Akihito quiet down immediately after hearing the name "Asami". 

"Akihito, I know you don't like to talk about this but you have. Is she going to carry the name Asami? or Larson? or Takaba?" said Emma carefully. There was once Akihito burst out crying when they were talking about a douche Eli dated a few years back who resembled Asami (Only Akihito felt the resemblance). 

"I don't know." 

There was a long silence before someone said another word. Emma and Elissa were waiting for Akihito to say something but after 10 minutes of trying to eat their cold breakfast, they knew Akihito wasn't going to say anything on the topic. 

"So Aki, what other names do you have?" asked Emma warmly. 

"Ermm I like this one but I think it's sort of a bitch name?" 

"Just say it," rushed Elissa 

"Ericka." 

 

 

***

 

"Don't worry Aki, we'll be here waiting for you and Ericka." Emma was holding Akihito's hand with an assuring grip.

"You better come out in one piece with Ericka okay? If not I'll lose my drinking buddy and I'll have 3 dead bodies," said Elissa

"Why 3? There's only Akihito and Ericka," 

"You forgot the doctor," Akihito just laughed at her answer. He knew it was Eli's way of comforting him, she wasn't good with doing it the "normal" so that's why she pisses many people off but it was rather comforting to Akihito since he knew she meant no harm. 

"I'm sure both Akihito-sama and Ericka-sama will be safe, your nervousness is spreading to him," said Tachibana coolly. 

"Thank you Tachibana." the man was right, the Larson sisters were making him even more nervous.

"I'm sure everything will go alright. I've prepared him well for today, there shouldn't be any problems, his body is as strong as a bull," said Zhang Ge to the Larson Sisters. Zhang Ge was the exact opposite of Tachibana, while the man was a man of few words, his wife was super chatty, her chattiness made up for his quietness. While Tachibana was always calm and cool, Zhang Ge was all over the place and friendly. The two complimented each other well. 

"I'm sure Ericka will pretty, smart and strong," she told Akihito with her warm motherly smile. She treated Akihito like he was her son.

Akihito was then wheeled into the operating theatre. His last thoughts before going to sleep wasn't about Ericka nor his sister nor the Tachibanas. He thought about a man across the Pacific. A man who he loved. And he imagined him to be waiting outside there with his family and he will pull through to meet that man. 

 

 

***

 

"Are you sure about this? Your initials will be AA after this," asked Elissa one more time. 

"Yes." Akihito's answer was firm. He stood his ground. No one can change his mind. Making his initials AA doesn't mean a thing to him anyway. 

"Alright." 

Akihito signed the form without any hesitation. 

 

 

***

 

"EM-MA," Emma was getting her niece to call her name but all she was getting was.....

"MAMA!" said the 8 month old baby.

"Move away let me show you how it's done," said Elissa confidently. She then looked at the baby in the eye and said "E-LI-SSA"

"SASA!" 

"ZHAN GE LIED. ERICKA IS RETARDED!" 

"ELISSA LARSON WATCH THAT DAMNED MOUTH OF YOURS!" 

"Okay fine but she's obviously retarded since she can say such a complex word like otou-san and not Emma or Elissa." 

"She's a baby." 

"A retarded one," 

"LILI!" shouted the baby out of a sudden. The baby was smiling at Elissa, looking utterly adorable.

"Okay fine. Lili doesn't sound that bad. Ericka call me Lili again," 

"SASA!" 

 

 

***

 

"Why do you have to move out? We have everything here," 

"It's because you have everything here that's why I'm moving out. You're spoiling Ericka, it's bad for her." 

"Well if I can afford I don't see what's wrong with giving her what she wants," 

"This is exactly why I'm moving out. You exposing her to instant gratification, it's bad for her. She'll turn into a spoiled brat. She shouldn't be bathing in haute couture, I want her to grow up normally. Being Asami's daughter and being a Larson, the daughter of two underworld powerhouses is already bad enough for her, at least let her lead a normal life." 

"She can live a normal life here," 

"Emma, my decision is final. Nothing can change my mind." 

 

 

***

 

"OTOU-SAN THERE ARE SO MANY PUPPIES HERE!!!!" shouted the three year old who was carried by her father. 

Akihito put his little angel on the grass, she looked at him questioningly, "Go pick one" he said. Her face lit up light a candle and she ran towards the puppies. Akihito had brought her to an animal shelter, his angel had taken a liking towards animals and he thought it'd be good for her to grow up with a companion. 

After an hour, his daughter came running to him with a brown puppy tailing her. 

"I want him."  

 

 

***

 

"Otou-san it's Max's birthday next week, can we have a birthday party for him," said the four year old who was waiting for her dinner to be served. 

"No we're not going to hold a birthday party for Max. He won't even know what's going on," said Akihito for the umpteenth time. 

"Pleaseeeeeeeeee," she begged but all she got was another no from her father. 

After dinner, Ericka went to text her aunt Mama. 

From Takaba Akihito

To Emma-nee 

Mama, I'm Ericka. It's Max's bithday next week and otou-san won't let me have a bithday party for him. 

 

From Emma-nee

To Takaba Akihito

Awww he's such a meanie, don't worry dear, I'll have a gala specially planned for him. 

 

From Takaba Akihito 

To Emma-Nee

What's a Gala? 

 

From Emma-nee 

To Takaba Akihito 

A birthday party 

 

From Takaba Akihito 

To Emma-nee

YAY! Thanks Mama! 

 

Akihito found out about the messages after washing the dishes. He gave up and held a small birthday party for Max at his apartment in Battery Park City. 

 

 

*** 

 

Everyone freaked out. Everyone. When Akihito got the call from Ericka's preschool teacher, the Larson sisters, the Tachibanas and Akihito rushed to the preschool in the middle of the day. 

"I'm afraid Ericka might have some tendencies to use violence when some trouble arises," said the kindergarten teacher. 

"she's a very well behaved girl at home," said Akihito, trying to defend his daughter who was seated beside him.

"She pushed a boy from his chair which broke his nose,"

"BUT HE PULLED MY HAIR AND KISSED ME!" interrupted Ericka. Everyone in the room besides the teacher lost it.

"IM GONNA SEND THAT PIECE OF SHIT TO HELL," said Elissa while cracking her knuckles.

"Dispatch Alpha squad to deal with the boy. Make sure the body is not found." Emma was giving orders to Tachibana.

Zhang Ge was murmuring in rapid Chinese which he didn't understand but by judging from how her husband looked when he heard her, it wasn't good. 

Akihito was hugging his daughter tightly comforting her. What they didn't know was that the boy didn't kiss her nor did he pull her hair, she just didn't like how he got praised by the teacher in class even though she got higher marks in math than him.

 

 

***

"Can I bring Max along?" 

"No." 

"Whyyyyy?" His daughter whined. 

"We're going to ballet class and they don't allow pets there. Besides that, Max would scare most of the girls to tears. He's 32kg, scary looking, positively dangerous," 

"HEYYY! HE'S CUTE AND FLUFFY! THEY'LL LOVE HIM. Right Max?" 

Max gave an agreeing bark as a response. Akihito sometimes think that his daughter loves the dog more than him. It's not that he hated Max, he loved the dog, but the german shepard looks dangerous and is overly protective over his daughter.

"It's their fault they're weak not mine. Well, just bribe the people at the ballet school there so they'll let Max in. So we're bringing Max?" 

"No." 

"I'm going to tell Mama about this later," 

Knowing how Emma spoils his daughter so much, the woman might buy the whole ballet school and make it so that Ericka could bring Max along. 

"I'll buy you ice cream." 

"No otou-san. We're bringing Max." 

"I'll buy you ice cream and McDonald's" 

Akihito knew he won when his daughter hesitated. She was just like him, easily bribed with food. 

"Okay."

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! This is an omake-ish chapter. I thought we needed a breather for all the angst im going to put you guys through. Lastly, Happy Chinese New Year's (even though it's tomorrow)!! I'm chinese so WOOOOHOOOOOO!


	5. Chapter 5

"Asami-sama, please forgive me! I promise I won't ever do it again!" pleaded the bloodied Chinese man who was tied to a chair with rope. 

 

"Of course you won't do it again," answered Asami as he removed his coat, passing it to Kirishima with an languid ease. He began to roll up the sleeves of his pristine designer YSL white shirt up to his elbows while Mr Ling, Asami's firearms supplier continue to plead for his life. Correction. Ex firearms supplier. 

 

"Do you know why Mr Ling?" asked Asami with a cool and relaxed voice although the tension in the room was as clear as day.

 

"I'm sorry Asami-sama, I've learnt my lesson. I won't repeat my mistake again," answered Mr Ling. His face lit up in hope that he will be able to leave the warehouse with just a broken nose, broken jaw and a lost tooth. 

 

"Wrong answer Mr Ling. The correct answer is because you won't ever have the chance." Asami took out his customised Smith & Wesson revolver from his shoulder holster. Blood drain from the Chinese's face when Asami pointed the gun between his eyes. 

 

Bang. 

 

"Kirishima. Clean this up," ordered Asami as received his coat from his assistant. He lit up a Dunhilll cigar and walked out of the warehouse like walking out of a shopping mall.

 

***

 

Asami came home to an empty penthouse. It has been so for the past 7 years. He will remove his clothes and enter the shower. He lets his hair dry for about 30 minutes as he enjoys some alcohol in his bathrobe and then goes to sleep. He wakes up the next day, showers, dress for work, eat the breakfast brought by his assistant, work and come back home in the wee hours of the morning. It's the same routine every day for the past 7 years. If he's in the mood, he gets someone to come over to fuck. A healthy sex life plays an important role in keeping someone in optimum condition. 

 

However some nights he breaks that routine and tonight is one of those nights. These nights are rare but they still happen. He headed straight to the bar after dumping his leather gloves and bag on the couch. He skimmed through his selections of fine wines and spirits. Merlot, sauvignon blanc, vodka, bourbon......  He stops and picks up the bottle of single malt whiskey which contains 43% alcohol. He skips the glass and drinks straight from the bottle. 

 

Who would've known, Asami Ryuichi, king pin of Japan, billionaire businessman, most eligible bachelor of Japan would drink until he blacks out like any other alcoholic you see on the road after 1am in the morning. He whipped out his phone so he can text Kirishima that he will not be going to work the next day because he is a responsible adult. After he hit the send button, he threw his phone across the obsidian counter. Kirishima never questioned his absence because he knows it's one of those nights. During these nights, he thinks back on his life and how he managed to fuck it all up so badly. He asks himself the same set of questions every time it's one of these nights. If he was lucky he would be out by the fifth question, if he's not then the seventh. In the end it's still a routine, just an alternative one. 

 

So here goes, the first question. Since when did this routine started? 

 

Was it 6 or 7 years? He thinks back as he drinks. He tries to recall some events that led to this day. He wasn't sure anymore. He recalls all the way back into his teenage years, adulthood, Akihito and lastly Haruka. 

 

Second question. Where is Akihito? 

 

He does not know. The blonde boy could dead but he knew he isn't. He's alive. Somewhere. Walking this god damned Earth just like him. He knows because there is some kind of intangible bond between them, it's unbreakable, it's incomprehensible and it ties two of them together. Some call it red strings of fate. He recalls the last time he saw the boy. He tries really hard to remember his face but he couldn't. He couldn't even remember his beautiful face anymore. He drinks even more. He tries to recall his blonde hair, his lean body but he just can't picture it clearly. It's just like seeing a flower through a thick fog. However there was one thing he remembers, it was his smile before the blonde stepped out of his life. That smile will haunt him forever. 

 

Third question. How did Akihito disappear from the face of the Earth? 

 

He does not know too. He knew the boy went back to his mother's place. What's the town called again? Gifu? No wait that's where the town is, Gifu prefecture. He knows the town starts with T. Was it Tokato? Totaka? Takato? No. Takato was his friend. His best friend. He bought red spider lilies from the florist before heading to his mother's tombstone. He stayed in the town for two weeks before he returned to Tokyo only to disappear into thin air. He should've stopped the boy from stepping a foot out of the penthouse but he knows that the Asami back then was too stupid to do it. He drinks. 

 

Forth question. Why did Akihito leave? 

 

This one he knows but he does not feel proud for knowing. He drinks even more. He was stupid. Yes. You wouldn't believe it, Asami Ryuichi, blah blah blah titles, admitting he was stupid. It was all his fault. Not Haruka's. Not Akihito's. Okay, maybe Haruka's. He drinks again. Before he made it to the fifth question, Asami Ryuichi already blacked out on the couch with an empty bottle of scotch right beside him. 

 

***

"Sir, you're finally awake." Asami need not open his eyes to know who was it. His head was pounding but that was to be expected after drinking half a bottle of scotch. 

 

"Please take the pills and drink some water, it'll help. I've run a hot bath too, I believe you haven't showered after returning from the warehouse. I'll prepare you some lunch in the meantime." 

 

Asami didn't really ate his lunch but that was also expected. Kirishima's cooking was on par with any Michelin starred chef but anything would taste bland after those nights. What he wanted was something Kirishima nor his money could give. He wanted something that was made by Akihito. Anything would do, even plain ume bento would be the most sumptuous meal on earth. 

 

"Sir, Mikhail Arbatov called this morning, he said he has some useful information for you," said Kirishima as Asami was reading reports on the dining table. 

 

"Arbatov, what business does he have with me?" 

 

"He didn't say sir." 

 

"Alright, I'll call him back later." 

 

*** 

"Asami, you finally called. You know I was waiting for your call over here like some love sick idiot," whined Mikhail in a playful tone. 

 

"Mikhail. You said you have useful information. What is it?" said Asami in a serious tone in stark contrast to Mikhail's playfulness. 

 

"Straight to business eh? You know it is polite to have a tad bit of small talk before getting down to business. Luckily you don't have to deal with the Swiss, they need around 10 minutes of pointless chit chat before business- " 

 

"But I am talking to a Russian not a Swiss. Now what business do you have with me Mikhail?" Asami's annoyance clearly seeped into his speech. Normally Asami's voice would always be cool and neutral throughout the conversation, he has total control over the emotions he wanted to project but after heavy drinking he wasn't really in the mood to deal with people in general. 

 

"A little bird told me that you just killed your firearms supplier. Again. You and I are businessmen, I'm sure you know that getting a new supplier in a total pain in the ass. And a good one is even harder. You see a friend of mine, American, is a firearms supplier. Her supplies are of highest quality, I'm sure you will be impressed because even I am. She's also very reliable, you won't have to deal with any trouble you're dealing with right now. Although shipping will be a pain but I'm sure you will have no other problems after securing a route. " 

 

"Interesting. You have a mole in Sion." 

 

"Don't mind the mole. He's already long gone. On a flight right now back to Moscow. I'll send you her contact information and when you contact her, tell her you were recommended by me." 

 

"Why are you telling me this?" 

 

"We are friends aren't we? This is what friends are for. Anyway goodbye Asami, I can finally go to sleep. Bye!" said Mikhail in his cheerful tone again. 

 

A few seconds later, Asami's phone lit up. 

From Mikhail Arbatov  
To Asami Ryuichi 

Emma Larson. (Number) You won't regret it Ryuichi :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone Rena is back. Sort of. Anyway I hope you like the chapter. I've always imagined Mikhail to be playful while Yuri is there to keep him in check. Sorry if you don't like Asami to be this OOC but I wanted a more emotional Asami. I wanted my Asami to be a sexy dangerous beast with emotions but he doesn't really express, everything is just internal. Asami's mind is basically a storm.


	6. Chapter 6

Adachi Ericka or as the Americans say Ericka Adachi your average looking daughter of an upper middle class family. The word average looking was the key. She attended a public school and is the best in her year. She went for ballet class after school every Tuesday and Saturday and had a big German Shepard which she loved dearly called Max. To most people she was a talented, polite, and smart girl who had a bright future ahead of her. She was a role model for other children her age. Adachi Ericka painted the perfect picture of normalcy for the world to view. 

 

 

However behind her flawless picture of normalcy, Ericka had two military trained bodyguards shadowing her every second of the day. While she's at school, they wait outside in an inconspicuous car that melted seamlessly into the background. When she's walking home from school or commuting to her extra classes, one of her bodyguards will be within 3 meters radius while the other will be in the vehicle. She had a tracker in her earrings which she never takes off unless to clean them. She carried a switchblade with her everywhere she goes. She also took classes in krav maga. Her fluffy German Shepard Max was trained to attack anyone who wishes to harm his mistress. Besides that she's related to the Larsons, while most aspire to be like them and build their own empire, Ericka is eligible to be inherit the empire. 

 

 

Adachi Ericka doesn't really care about all that, she just wants to make her otou-san happy and if living as normal as they can would make him smile then she'll continue living as she is right now. According to her Aunt Emma and Eli, her otou-san had it rough before he came to New York. Sometimes he would wear a pained expression when he sees her and that's undoubtedly because she looks exactly like her mother. How did she know? Because she looks nothing like her otou-san. He thought his sad smile would go unnoticed by her astute senses, the expression he would only show when he thought she wasn't looking but only to be caught in her peripheral vision. 

 

 

Ericka came home to the smell of her otou-san's curry and the sound of Max's paws on the floor. She announced her return with a loud "Taidama", she was answered by an "Okaeri" and Max jumping on her to give her what she would call a hug. "Lunch is will be ready soon," said Akihito from the kitchen. By the time she made her way to the dining table, Max already put her bag in her room and was sitting by her chair. 

 

 

"So what's up? You're smiling from ear to ear and I can tell that your excited by the incessant tap of your feet against the floor," said Ericka when she was served a plate of curry. She picked out the carrots and dumped them on her otou-san's face with a face of disgust. "Incessant. Sometimes I can't believe that you're seven years old with that vocabulary of yours but then you do something as childish as dumping your carrots onto my plate. Ericka you're growing up so fast. It feels as if it was yesterday when you called Emma "Mama" and Elissa "Sasa"," teased Akihito. 

 

 

Akihito can't help but sigh at the rate his little angel was growing. With every passing day she grows more beautiful, more intelligent, more complex. It used to be so easy, she would be happy when given a chance to play the PS4 but now she was strategizing, beating her own high scores. The next thing he knew would be Ericka bringing her boyfriend to meet him. Probably having raunchy sex. No. Stop. He was not going down that road. No parent thinks about their children having sex, that's restricted territory. He snapped out of his musings before he got to the point of no return. 

 

 

"I think you got an idea but I'm just confirming it, I'm finally having an exhibition next month. Everything is almost set in stone, I honestly think it'll be a successful one," announced Akihito proudly. "Of course it's going to be a success! You're my otou-san, you had a part in creating me, how could a lacking parent produce such an excellent child in every department," answered Ericka with a smirk. It was a carbon copy of Asami's smirk, guess it ran in the Asami blood then, the smirk sent a pang of sadness through Akihito's heart. "What a roundabout way to compliment yourself, you're such a narcissist," groaned Akihito. 

 

 

Ericka caught her otou-san's fleeting sadness. She berate herself inside, she had already noticed that smirking was an easy trigger. She diverted her otou-san's attention with a funny story about her classmate's inability to pronounce the word storm properly.  

 

 

Ericka was happy for her otou-san. He was mainly a fashion photographer, working with clothing companies and some luxury brands because it allowed him to be based in New York. Besides that, his income was definitely more stable than a freelancer. He could have been chasing a pride of wild lions in Africa or trekking in some part of the Amazon if it weren't for her. He stayed in New York to raise her, she became his top priority instead of his lifetime dream of being a famous photographer. 

 

 

Akihito hastily left after lunch lest his assistant drag him back to the studio by his ear and Ericka was left to her own device until night when he comes home. Ericka was grooming Max when an idea popped into her mind. If she went to stay with her aunts, then Akihito can hole up in his studio, paying his full attention to his work. "Are you ready to go to Aunt Emma's house?" asked Ericka, turning to face her companion. Max answered her with what she would call a "yes" bark. 

 

 

After an hour, Ericka was outside her apartment building with her luggage and Max by her side, waving her hand at the bulletproof white Nissan she knew would right around that corner. "Where would you like to go Young Miss?" asked Jared from the front passenger seat. "Larson Tower, thank you."  

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

With a ding, the elevator doors opened to the top floor where her Aunt Emma's office was. "Eri-chan, I wasn't expecting you, may I ask why are you here?" asked Tachibana who was coincidentally waiting for the elevator, he stepped aside to allow her to step out. "I thought of staying with Aunt Emma and Eli for the month until otou-san is done with his work. I don't want to distract him by making him worry about me. I didn't want to go to the penthouse straight away because I knew you would rush there to open the door for me since I don't have the key and that would distract you from your work so I thought of coming here and going back with Aunt Emma and Eli," explained Ericka. 

 

 

"Ah thank you for you consideration Eri-chan, Emma and Elissa just finished their meeting with me, you may enter her office freely. I shall get a spare key card for you so you can go to the penthouse anytime you want. Excuse me I shall return to my work," said Tachibana before he entered the elevator. Ericka expressed her thanks to Tachibana-ojii and headed to Emma's office.

 

 

When Ericka pushed the door, part of her aunts conversation bled through and she stilled at the mention of the name Asami, she didn't dare to push further lest one of them discover her presence. She knew this Asami person was positively her mother because it was a woman's name and from the bits and pieces of information she picked out from conversations such as these. "The meeting with Asami is scheduled next month, should we inform Akihito about his arrival?" asked Elissa in a concerned, hushed voice. "I don't think we should, Asami is still a sore spot for Akihito even after all these years, he's already stressed with his exhibition we don't want -" answered Emma before she noticed the slight opening of her office door. 

 

 

Ericka knowing she was already discovered, stopped her furtive actions and entered Emma's office. "His arrival? I thought Asami was a woman," said Ericka, her tone unwavering. She wanted to know more about her other parent desperately but Akihito would never provide her anymore information that her other parent was older than him and was Japanese. Tachibana, Zhang Ge, Emma and Elissa didn't disclose any information pertaining her other parent either, saying it was not their place to tell her about her other parent. 

 

 

"Ericka what brings you here today?" asked Elissa cheerfully, trying to stray their conversation away from Asami. Ericka was stubborn as her otou-san, she wanted to know who this Asami person was. Was Asami a he? Then which of her parent was the one that gave birth to her? Why are her parents not together anymore? "Ericka why didn't you knock the door before you opened it? You do know it is impolite to do so," said Emma seeing Elissa's effort to distract Ericka was futile. 

 

 

"STOP CHANGING THE SUBJECT! I want to know about my other parent. Otou-san won't tell me, you guys won't tell me. I HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW! EVERYONE ELSE AT SCHOOL GOT BOTH PARENTS EXCEPT ME! Although some parents are of the same sex but that's okay at least they have both. What about me? I don't even have a picture. I don't even know his name. I don't know his age. I DON'T KNOW ANY BASIC INFORMATION EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEIR PARENTS! All I know is that I look like him and now you both are denying me the chance to meet my other parent. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO THAT!" shouted Ericka at the top of her lungs, tears filled her eyes. Max sensing his mistress distress quickly tried to comfort her by wrapping his body around her. Ericka used to be afraid of thunder and every time thunder struck, she would find comfort with Max wrapping his body around her. 

 

 

Emma and Elissa were both shocked by her outburst. Ericka was always an easy child, she rarely had outburst, she was normally fine when given a logical explanation behind why she was barred from certain things. She was calm, she never threw tantrums when she didn't get what she wanted with the exception of wanting something for Max. The women were both at loss at how to deal with the crying girl on their office floor hugging her dog for comfort. 

 

 

Elissa was the first to step out of her stupor. She went to the crying figure on the floor, petted her head while whispering soothing hushes. Finally the crying came to a stop and the two adults were conflicted on whether to disclose such delicate information to the little girl. Ericka had a point, she had the right to know. 

 

 

"Come on, let's get to the couch, this will be a long conversation," whispered Elissa to her niece. Emma took the cue and went to make some hot chocolate for the girl. She also brought a glass of water for her sister and herself, this was going to be a long conversation indeed. 

 

 

"As you know father didn't grow up with the both of us here in New York. He grew up in Japan, in a small town and later moved to Tokyo to chase his dream of becoming a crime photographer," started Emma when she passed the mug to Ericka. "Back then his name was Takaba Akihito. He was chasing thugs, corrupted politicians, photographing their debauchery and wrongdoings, exposing their true nature to the world. He was quite successful he got a few headlines and he began to chase bigger criminals." 

 

 

"He managed to photograph one of the most successful businessmen of Japan who was notorious for moonlighting as the biggest crime lord in Japan in a rather compromising situation. He was never caught because of insufficient evidence but Akihito's photos might be able to put him into jail. So Akihito garnered the unwanted attention of Asami Ryuichi and somehow they got into a relationship," continued Emma. Honestly, she didn't know how they got together, Akihito never told anyone but she had a rough guess and it wasn't pleasant. 

 

 

"I'm not sure how long they were together but Asami did something that broke Akihito's heart. I received a text from Akihito saying he wants to come here and so I bought him a plane ticket," said Emma. "He was heartbroken when he got here and I helped him recover since Em here was too busy with work," said Elissa while she gave Emma an accusing look.  

 

 

"He took a pregnancy test as a dare from me and discovered he's got you in his belly. The gene runs in the Larson blood so he didn't know there was a possibility of him getting pregnant since he didn't know our family's medical history. As for Asami there isn't much I can tell you, all I know he's twelve years older than Akihito, runs Sion Corp, does some illegal firearms businesses and is a jerk for breaking Aki's heart. I don't have any pictures of him, nobody does cept maybe Aki," said Elissa. 

 

 

Ericka asked about Asami's arrival to which Emma answered with a questioning eyebrow. "I just want to take a peek at how he looks like, I'm not going to approach him or talk to him or get him to notice me. I promise! I just wanna know how he looks like that's all," explained Ericka with a pleading look which was deadly and she knew it. Nobody could resist her when she pulled out this look, her big watery eyes staring pleadingly straight into yours. Even if they managed to deny her request, she'll still get whatever she wanted with her kicked puppy look. 

 

 

Ericka was already plotting when Emma informed her Asami's date of arrival and the hotel he'll be staying at would be the Ritz-Carlton. She was pleased to know Asami would be staying right in their home territory, her security will be a tad bit more lax giving her the chance to slip away and meet her father. Wait technically her otou-san was her mother but calling her otou-san any traditional form of maternal address seemed disturbing and wrong. Never mind that, she'll just call Asami by his name. 

 

 

The hardest part of the plan was slipping away long enough for her to have a nice long chat with Asami. Her bodyguards will definitely notify her aunts and her otou-san when they notice she gave them the slip. She'll be found within 10 minutes thanks to her tracker in her earrings and if she took them off her family will lose it, thinking that she got kidnapped and is in mortal danger.

 

 

Suddenly she realised that Asami is arriving the day before her otou-san's exhibition, she can slip away during the exhibition to meet Asami. Her bodyguards won't be breathing down her neck because she's with her family.  Perfect. Getting Asami's attention won't be hard, she looks exactly like him,  it won't take much for him to be curious about a girl walking around with his face. Her plan was perfect, she couldn't wait for next month to arrive. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHA you weren't expecting an update were you? Surprise surprise

Asami finally arrived in New York in the morning after a long arduous journey despite being ensconced in the comfort of his private jet. He genuinely hated long flights with vigour. Thanks to the thunderstorm at Narita he wasn't able to take off until 3 hours later and he couldn't even land in New York when he arrived due to airport traffic. His secretary was annoyed also, Kirishima hated when things don't go along with his meticulously planned schedule. 

 

 

He fell into instant sleep when he arrived in his presidential suite at the Ritz-Carlton. When he woke up, it was already early evening, the sky was a fiery red along with some swirling salmon pink and purple hues. Kirishima's text message informed him that his meeting with Emma Larson had been rescheduled for tomorrow morning, leaving the evening free. 

 

 

For some odd reason, after eating his dinner in his room, he was possessed to go down to the lobby. He had reports to read, statistics to look, charts to read, paperwork to sign but for some reason he felt like he needed to go down to the lobby. He tried to ignore the weird notion but somehow he couldn't concentrate on his work, it was lingering in the recesses of his mind, nagging at him, gnawing at him. Asami sighed, he would not be able to progress any further with his work if he didn't scratch this particular itch. 

 

 

When the elevator doors opened, he saw a poster of an exhibition by a photographer happening right now. He thought Akihito would've been ecstatic to attend this exhibition, he would give him a wide smile, his eyes reduced to the crescent of the moon. Asami would dress him in a fine suit for the exhibition, only to peel it away when they got home. He hit the button 3 that would stop the elevator at the floor the exhibition was currently held at. 

 

 

The hall was packed with people like sardines in a can, people from the upper echelons of society. They were more focused on socialising, building new bridges, obtaining new business opportunities and making new allies than admiring the pictures on display. Taking a flute of champagne offered by a passing waiter he went on his way to look at the pictures. 

 

 

The pictures were beautiful, all of them telling a meaningful story on its own but nothing spoke to him. There was nothing tangible there for him to grasp, it was mostly foreign concepts and abstract ideas to him. For example there was a picture of a homeless man feeding a stray kitten. Those were his thoughts about the exhibition until he came across a picture titled "solitude". 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 Ericka was proud with herself. She managed to get away from the exhibition by "accidentally" spilling some water on herself. She convinced her aunts to let her go clean up on her own in one of their hotel rooms. Her reason was that her otou-san was horrible at small talk and he needed them to be there before everyone leaves and her bodyguards are tired from shadowing her 24 hours a day. Besides, she was in their own backyard, nothing could happen to her. 

 

 

She went straight up to the floor where the presidential suite was only to find Asami not answering his door. She was mad because this might be the only chance to Asami and it's going to be foiled by stupid Asami not answering his door. After knocking on his door and ringing the bell multiple times in succession, she concluded that Asami was not in his room. 

 

 

"Where are you Asami!" shouted Ericka before she saw two approaching men in the hallway. One of them was wearing glasses while the other was a blonde giant. Ericka began to panic, they both were scary looking. The blond giant was reaching into his coat and Ericka knew this wasn't going to be good. Before they could get closer, she ran towards the fire exit. 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 "Solitude" was a very personal photograph for Akihito. The photograph was taken in a hotel room on the 74th floor with a brilliant view of New York from above. The only source of light in the photograph were from other buildings. A man stood in the centre of the dark room with a lit cigarette between his fingers, its tendril climbing up to the ceiling. In the corner of the photograph was a silhouette of a naked person on the bed, the comforter pooling on the floor. The photograph was a depiction of his and Asami's relationship from his point of view and to find said person looking at it intently was.... He didn't even know how to describe his feelings.  

 

 

Should he feel proud about his achievement in front of Asami? He wasn't. Was he supposed to feel happy he can finally rub his success in Asami's face when Asami was the only other human being in the room who seem to understand his picture? Was he supposed to feel sad? Was he expected to be livid? 

 

 

Akihito was brought back to reality when he felt a familiar piercing gaze on him. Gathering his confidence, he went and stood to face the photograph, maintaining a safe distance between them but at the same time close enough for Asami to hear his voice above the endless chatter. 

 

 

"You were my muse for this one," admitted Akihito, his voice calm to his own surprise. Nothing was said between the two men for a while. "I thought you wanted to be a crime photographer. What's this?" asked Asami. Akihito can't help but feel the goose bumps that always came along when words came off his tongue in his baritone voice. "Circumstances made crime photographer no longer plausible, I can't be putting myself in danger anymore. Not all crime lords were so kind to let me go with my head still stuck to my neck. After that, I was determined to make a name for myself." 

 

 

Asami let out a small chuckle at Akihito's comment and silence once again enveloped them. "Was that how you saw our relationship?" asked Asami. Akihito wasn't the least bit surprised at Asami's accurate interpretation, even back then he was able to read Akihito like a open book. "Yes." admitted Akihito. 

 

 

"I'm sorry." Akihito couldn't help but gape at Asami's apology. When ever did this man ever do apologies? Akihito was once again at a loss on how to react. He was expecting insults, demeaning comments but an apology? He didn't see coming from a mile away even with binoculars.

 

 

"You look well. I assume you found someone?" Akihito thought about his answer for awhile, the someone in question was definitely a romantic interest but that someone in reality was Ericka. He didn't felt the need to disclose everything about his life to his ex lover. Were they even lovers in the first place? "Sort of," answered Akihito.   

 

 

"How is Haruka?" asked Akihito bitterly. Asami too thought for awhile before he answered "Haruka never -"  He was interrupted by a frantic Elissa. "OH MY GOD AKI! You're here with him. Never mind that there's a more pressing issue than you seeing your ex. ERICKA IS MISSING. Just now I decided to check on her despite her insistence on going alone but when I opened the door to the room they gave her she was not there. I checked and concluded she never entered the room in the first place," rambled Elissa.  

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 Asami didn't want to apologise to Akihito like this. In a room filled with people where they had no privacy. Akihito wasn't even looking him in the eye, he couldn't see the sincerity bleeding through his eyes. He couldn't hear his sincerity above the chatter. However Asami did not know when he would have another chance to meet Akihito, it was now or never. 

 

 

He wanted to tell Akihito about Haruka before a woman with the same silvery blonde hair and blue eyes approached Akihito. He wondered about their relationship when her words implied she was aware of Akihito's and his relationship. He saw panic took over Akihito when a person by the name of Ericka went missing, before he could say another word to Akihito, the duo were gone amidst the crowd. 

 

 

Asami sighed, at least he knew the name Akihito went by now. He checked his phone to find three missed calls from Kirishima and a message requesting his immediate presence in his hotel room. 

 

 

Asami entered his hotel room expecting Kirishima to give him urgent news about some idiot who decided it was a good time to stir up trouble in his absence. To his infinite surprise, he saw a child with his face tied to a chair glaring at him. He knew that glare, there was only one person on this planet with that glare and said person was the only person who dared to glare at him. 

 

 

"Asami-sama, we found this girl trying to get into your room. When we approached her she ran, we think she's sent by one of our enemies. What should we do with her?" said Kirishima. "Take off the gag. I want to talk to her," answered Asami. He knew his enemies would not hesitate to resort to desperate measures just to decapitate him. They weren't afraid to use children to get to him.  

 

 

"Who are you?" asked Asami, his voice cold and demanding. The girl rolled her eyes before she answered. "I honestly have no idea how you run a multi million company if you're this dumb," her voice filled with defiance.

 

 

Asami was bewildered, Akihito was the only person who ever dared to talk to him that way but then there was a girl wearing his face speaking in his exact manner. Suddenly Akihito's words rang in his head, he said he sort of found someone, he knew Asami meant a romantic interest so "sort of" entailed he did find someone but it wasn't a romantic interest. Then everything clicked. 

 

 

"You're Ericka." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "Guess you're not that dumb after all," answered Ericka with a smirk. Asami felt like he was looking into a mirror when she smirked. "Untie her. She's my daughter," commanded Asami. Kirishima and Suoh were both frozen with shock at the reveal but they quickly got over it and went to work. Disbelief were still written on their normally composed faces by the time they were done. They both excused themselves to give their boss privacy. 

 

 

"What a way to meet my father. I was expecting to be treated like a princess but instead I got tied up like a hostage. Your men weren't even hesitating to tie up a helpless child," commented Ericka. "They were just doing their job to ensure my safety. Akihito is looking for you, do you know that?" replied Asami. "Then shouldn't you be notifying him about my whereabouts. It won't be pretty when he finds me, that I can assure you," said Ericka, lifting her hand to show Asami the rope burns around her wrist. 

 

 

Asami instructed Kirishima and Suoh to bring Akihito, hoping that the action might be able alleviate Akihito's anger when he finds them. Their departure brought silence to their hotel room. "So...... how old are you?" asked Asami. He didn't know how to approach his daughter, he didn't know what kind of image Akihito had painted him in his daughter's mind. "I'm seven. I'm here to get to know you since otou-san wouldn't tell me anything about you." Asami was glad that he had a clean slate with his daughter, maybe not so clean after being tied up but at least he wasn't painted as a giant asshole. 

 

 

"I would like to get to know you too. My name is Asami Ryuichi, I'm 40 years old," said Asami. He didn't know what to tell his daughter. He is actually a crime lord rather than a legitimate businessman? He indirectly owns Tokyo? He has a penthouse in Shinjuku which he hardly sleeps in? 

 

 

"Alright since you have no idea what to say then let's play a game. I ask you a question and then you ask me question in return," proposed Ericka and Asami agreed. 

 

 

"Are you married?" "No, I'm single" 

 

 

"What is your favourite colour?" "Blue." 

 

 

"Where do you live?" "In a penthouse in Shinjuku." 

 

 

"Can you tell me about your family?" "My family consists of me, my dog Max, otou-san, Aunt Emma, Eli, Tachibana-ojii and Zhang Ge-obaa." 

 

 

"Are you any good with guns?" asked Ericka. The question raised Asami eyebrows but he answered it nonetheless. "I am." 

 

 

"How do you know I have a gun?" "When you sat down, you unbuttoned your suit and I saw some leather around your side which I assume would be shoulder holsters." 

 

 

"What is your job exactly? I think normal CEOs don't bring guns with them." "I supply the Japanese mobster with guns." The look Ericka gave him indicated she knew there was more but he wasn't going to indulge her. He doesn't want to ruin her first impression of him. A crime lord parent doesn't sound good. 

 

 

"What is your favourite food?" "Sushi." Asami chuckled, she was definitely Akihito's daughter. 

 

 

"What's so funny?" asked Ericka. "Your preference in food is exactly the same as Akihito. I remember he tried to drill holes in my wallet by devouring sushi at a famous sushi restaurant. His favourite takeout food was sushi too," answered Asami, his voice was filled with fondness when recalling memories of Akihito. 

 

 

"Were his efforts any good?" she asked. "No, didn't even manage to crack it," answered Asami proudly. "Don't worry, with otou-san and me, I'm sure our combined efforts will drain your Swiss bank accounts dry. My favourite is otoro and that's expensive," said Ericka. Asami was thoroughly amused by his daughter, she was smart, that much was certain but she still was a child. To think one can drain his Swiss bank account not even his Japanese bank account dry with otoro was as far fetched as Santa Claus is real. 

 

 

She proceeded to gush about how good the otoro was, how it melted on her tongue, how sweet it was. She also started comparing the otoro served at different restaurants in New York. She also told him which restaurant to go and which to avoid if he wanted sushi in Manhattan, but she swore by her favourite was the best and he shouldn't waste any time visiting the others. 

 

 

Ericka was about to tell Asami where her favourite restaurant was when the door was slammed opened and an anxious Akihito ran towards his daughter, pulling her into a bone crushing hug. Following him was the same lady who approached them while they were talking during the exhibition. "Thank god you're alright," chanted Akihito like a mantra. 

 

 

He released his daughter and cupped her face with his hands. "I was so worried Ericka, I'm never letting you out of my sight again. You just took ten years off my life! Look at all the white hair that you made," whined Akihito. Ericka laughed at her otou-san's antics. Akihito continued to probe his daughter for any injuries. His entire demeanour took a 180 degree change when he saw rope burns on Ericka's wrist. Being Asami's ex lover, he was familiar with rope burns himself. 

 

 

"Eli, please take Ericka back to your home. I'm going to have a little chat with Asami over here," said Akihito calmly but underneath all that calm composure was a terrifying rage. Elissa got the hint and took Ericka's hand in hers but Ericka was reluctant to leave. "Otou-san I don't want to go! I'm not sleepy yet. Asami said he's good with guns and that's cool. He said he'd let us try to drain his bank account with sushi too," whined Ericka.   

 

 

"Ericka listen to me and follow your Eli home," said Akihito sternly, he didn't want his daughter to witness a warzone. "I don't wanna!" Akihito was getting impatient to deal with his daughter's whining, he knew that she would stop if he gave her a logical reason to bar her from meeting her Asami but he couldn't come up with one because there was no reason he should stop Ericka. "Ericka, Akihito and I have something really important to discuss and we would like some privacy. We will meet again and I'll bring you to eat otoro at your favourite restaurant. I promise," interjected Asami smoothly. 

 

 

With Asami's word, Ericka finally agreed to go home with Elissa. Akihito waited for a few minutes after the door closed before releasing his rage at Asami, not wanting his daughter to hear any of it. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I didn't screw up the meeting.... I hope you guys liked it


	8. Chapter 8

Asami stood across Akihito, he saw hold Akihito's hand curled into tight fists, his breathing growing laboured. Asami saw the explosion coming and he had two choices, one, let Akihito's rage run its course or, two, fight back. He thought about fighting back but then decided not to because he wanted to be on Akihito's good side if he ever wanted to see his daughter more often. Although he was not sure whether he could actually step into the good side after what he did to Akihito. 

 

 

A few moments after the door clicked shut, Akihito kicked the chair Ericka was tied to in Asami's direction, sending it flying across the living room. Asami sidestepped the flying chair, apparently kicking the chair did nothing to appease the rage coursing through Akihito's little body. 

 

 

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND? TYING A CHILD UP LIKE A FUGITIVE. I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE A BASTARD BUT I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE A BASTARD WHO WOULD TIE UP CHILDREN! EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW SHE WAS MY DAUGHTER, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TIED UP AN INNOCENT CHILD. SHE'S SEVEN, SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT'S RIGHT AND WHAT'S WRONG," screamed Akihito.  Asami remained silent, deciding not to interrupt Akihito. 

 

 

"SHE'S GOT ROPE BURNS ASAMI, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FIX THAT? TELL ME HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FIX THAT? SHE MIGHT BE SCARRED FOR LIFE THANKS TO YOU," demanded Akihito as he took a step towards Asami. Instead of continuing, Akihito remained silent, Asami took it as his cue to answer the question. 

 

 

"The rope burns will heal in time, it wont leave a scar I'm sure. And for the mentally scarred part, I doubt it, we were having quite an enjoyable time getting to know each other," answered Asami calmly but surely his answer didn't satisfy Akihito. 

 

 

"You're a real bastard Asami. You mean you won't do anything and you don't think you're at fault. No shut up and listen to me, you can't talk your way out of this. I don't want you near Ericka ever again you hear me. You endanger her safety. You finish whatever business you have here and you run back to Japan and never come back. Do you understand me?" asked Akihito fiercely. Akihito's behaviour reminded Asami of a tigress protecting her cubs from danger.

 

 

Asami was exasperated by Akihito's demand. He was trying to stop Asami and Ericka having a relationship. "Now you're being unreasonable Akihito. I know you're angry so your judgement is clouded but you can't stop me from building a relationship with my daughter. She's MINE too, we both had a part in creating her. I promise I'll treat her right this time. I'll treat the both of you right," said Asami. 

 

 

"Oh you're talking about being unreasonable well you're the unreasonable one here. She may be your daughter but you didn't want to have a part in it. You dumped me when someone else entered your life, you didn't want to have anything to do with me so evidently you wouldn't want anything to do with her since I had a part in making her," argued Akihito, using Asami's words back at him much to his chagrin. 

 

 

Akihito didn't believe the older man's pious bullshit for a single second. He was a sweet talker, a smooth liar, he could manipulate anyone into trusting him. That's how he got so successful, he lied to other businessmen, manipulated them into selling their companies to him under the pretence of a merger and then selling it off for scraps, making shit ton of money from it. That was how he tricked Akihito into thinking he loved him too, and that there was no one else but him in his golden eyes. He could fake anything, a loving caress, a tender kiss filled with promise. The only thing he didn't lie about was his lust for Akihito. 

 

 

"You're twisting my words Akihito. Don't be so cruel to Ericka. She'll be happier if she's got both parents in her life. You understand that clearly since you too grew up in a single parent household," said Asami. 

 

 

"Cruel? You saying I'm being cruel?" scoffed Akihito and he walk right up to Asami. "THE ONLY ONE THAT IS CRUEL IS YOU. YOU MADE ME BELIEVE YOU, I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME BUT WHEN HARUKA CAME INTO THE SCENE, YOU DUMPED ME ON THE SPOT. HOW I COULD ACTUALLY TRUST YOU WITH MY DAUGHTER WHEN YOU BETRAYED MY TRUST SO EASILY. YOU PROMISED ME FOREVER BUT WHEN HARUKA SHOWED UP, IT TURN INTO DUST. SPEAKING OF THAT BITCH, WHY ARENT YOU BACK IN JAPAN, LETTING HER FAKE LIPS SUCK YOUR COCK," bellowed Akihito. 

 

 

Asami was annoyed at Akihito's attitude but he could understand his point of view. After all, it was him that was the cause of all this in the first place. If only he wasn't such an idiot. "I understand your concerns but I assure you that I'm a changed man and that woman is no more," persuaded Asami.  

 

 

Akihito had enough of Asami's lies, he grabbed the older man's hand and flipped him onto the ground as if he weighed no more than a few kilograms. Akihito took out Asami's gun from his shoulder holster and aimed it back at Asami. Asami heard the familiar sound of the safety going off before Akihito spoke again. "I know you understood me perfectly," said Akihito softly but it was no less menacing, venom dripping from each word. 

 

 

Akihito maintained the position for a few moments just as a statement before placing the gun gently on the glass coffee table and walked out of the hotel room, leaving the dumbfounded Asami on the carpet, replaying the whole scene in his head on repeat.

 

 

Asami was impressed and shocked at the same time. Akihito's movements were seasoned, he was trained in combat. Asami realised Akihito's hands were steady when he pointed the gun at him. He didn't even had the courage to lift one eight years ago, let alone aim it with the safety off. Asami groaned and got off the floor, dealing with Akihito just got a lot more troublesome.

 

 

(Asami wouldn't admit that he found Akihito's display a such big turn on that he had to masturbate in the shower) 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

By the time Akihito got home, he was glad to find Ericka already tucked in and sleeping soundly with Max at her feet. He thanked Elissa for staying until he got home and sent her off without an explanation even though he could see how curious she was through her glowing eyes. He was exhausted, physically, mentally and emotionally. The fight with Asami took out more than he thought. 

 

 

"Otou-san, did you arrange our sushi date with Asami?" asked Ericka over the dinner table. Akihito stiffened at the questioned, he didn't know how to answer his daughter. Should he tell her that Asami and him were at odds or pull the typical "never let the kids know that mommy and daddy are fighting" move. Both options didn't sit well with Akihito so he settled with neutral ground. "Asami got business these few days. We'll know once his schedule is less hectic," answered Akihito. 

 

 

Ericka became visibly excited at the prospect of going out to eat sushi with Asami and Akihito couldn't ignore the guilty strings being pulled in his heart for lying to his daughter. "I can't wait, I hope Asami finishes his work soon. Otou-san you'll be coming too right? I told Asami both of us will drain his Swiss bank accounts so you better come, I made a promise to him already," said Ericka, her eyes gleaming with expectation. 

 

 

Akihito gave a small nod, he couldn't trust himself to sound convincing. He was never a good liar and Ericka was very perceptive, she must have gotten that from Asami albeit she's still not as sharp as him but she could already sniff out some of his lies.

 

 

"Otou-san I totally understand why you loved Asami. He's so cool and handsome. He said he's still single otou-san, why don't you marry Asami and we can be one happy family. We should do it over here since its legal for the both of you to get married but Japan sounds like a nice place to get married. Can you get married there otou-san? If you get married, then I can't call Asami by his name anymore, honestly calling my father by his name is a little weird but father sounds too formal and daddy is too sexualised. How about 'papa'? Should I call Asami by that?" asked Ericka and Akihito once again replied with a small nod. 

 

 

"Imagine we move back to Japan, I bet it's really pretty from all the anime I've watched. Oh my god, if we're gonna move back, I need to work on my Japanese, I can't possibly let my grades fall just because of the stupid language barrier. Papa said he lives in a penthouse, I wonder if it's big enough for Max. I don't want him to feel trapped in a tiny apartment, I've seen those documentaries about how houses in metropolitans like Tokyo and Hong Kong are so tiny nowadays. Otou-san have you been to the penthouse? Is it big enough for all of us including Max?" asked Ericka sincerely again. 

 

 

"Yes it's big enough. It's as big as Emma's house," answered Akihito. Akihito proceed to tune out Ericka's voice, he couldn't handle it, she really wanted a complete family with Asami and he couldn't let her down by not allowing the sushi date. He understood Ericka, he used to fantasize about having a nice happy family with his mother and absent father. The hollow left by an empty father figure in his life was never filled. Did he want that hollow inside Ericka? No he didn't want that, he wanted the best for Ericka and here he was, not allowing Asami and Ericka to go on a sushi date because of his fear.  

 

 

Akihito thought about it for the whole night, it was bothering him too much for him to fall asleep. He went to check on Ericka after he got a glass of water from the kitchen in the middle of the night. Ericka was sleeping soundly with a small smile on her face. When he imagined the downcast on his little angel's face when she was informed that the sushi date won't come into fruition, he already decided. 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Asami could see the excitement bubbling inside Ericka as when she and Akihito got into the car headed to Ericka's favourite sushi restaurant. She was wearing a lovely baby blue dress, she wore her long black hair in a braid, it was tied by a matching baby blue ribbon too. She looked totally adorable, he couldn't help but pat her head in affection and she leaned into his touch immediately. Akihito on the other hand was watching him his every move with a wary expression, he will prove his sincerity with this given chance.

 

 

There was another car tailing their limo filled with bodyguards, Asami was sure that was Akihito's doing. He got to learn about Akihito's relationship with the Larsons during his talk with Emma Larson which by the way went smoothly. He was impressed by the lady and her goods. She made it crystal clear that her relationship with Akihito will not affect their business in any way, in the event that their relationship head further south, he would still have his shipments.

 

 

They finally arrived at the small establishment in the heart of Manhattan. Akihito had booked the restaurant just for them. The restaurant was small and narrow, it only had a sushi bar which could fit a maximum of eight and at the end of the restaurant was the rest room. "Oh my favourite customer is back," said the chef behind the sushi bar at the sight of Ericka. The chef was a middle aged man with a friendly smile. "Chef Watanabe I'm back and please tell me you stocked up on your otoro," greeted Ericka as she took a seat right in front of the chef. Akihito and Asami took the left and right seat next to Ericka respectively.

 

 

" Of course, your otou-san told me you were coming today so I ordered a whole tuna in advanced just for precaution. Wouldn't want my favourite customer leaving unsatisfied right?" answered chef Watanabe. Asami watched as the chef sliced the tuna expertly, gracefully, he could tell the chef had decades of experience behind him.  

 

 

"Here you go, Adachi-san, Ericka-chan. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" asked the chef when he served Asami his sushi. Asami answered the chef and ate his sushi which was admittedly very good but not as good as the restaurant he and Akihito used to frequent back in Japan. Ericka let out a groan at how yummy it was, she reacted the same way Akihito used to react. The current Akihito just ate his sushi quietly, sitting next to Ericka. 

 

 

"Asami-san would you prefer the usual omakase or would you like an eat-until-you're-full-otoro-course?" asked the chef behind the counter. He took the usual and watched as the chef proceed to prepare more otoro for Ericka, Akihito was having omakase too. The entire atmosphere was awkward, Ericka was relaxed enjoying her otoro while Akihito was sort of just there, speaking when needed. Akihito was uncomfortable, his shoulders were tense, he was constantly crossing his legs, uncrossing them, shuffling his legs. 

 

 

As the dinner progressed, Akihito became visibly more relaxed, he began participating in the conversation more actively. He even spoke directly to Asami once but it was to argue about how good McDonald's french-fries were after he desecrated its sanctity. He learnt many things about Ericka and one shocking fact about chef Watanabe.

 

 

First, Ericka loved her German Shepard, Max, a lot. Ericka probably loved Max more than Akihito, to which Akihito agreed vehemently and Ericka denied weakly. Second, her favourite colour was blue because it she looked good in blue. Third, for a seven year old girl, Ericka was vain but she's a girl so it's given. Lastly, she might actually be able to drain his bank account just from eating otoro because she didn't stop eating until Akihito said it was enough. Of course it would be the Japanese account, not the Swiss one, definitely not the Swiss one. 

 

 

The fact about chef Watanabe that surprised him was that the chef was nearing his seventies even though he looked like he just reached 50. Asami was really impressed with the chef. When Ericka excused herself from table to go to the washroom, Chef Watanabe retreated back into the kitchen too, giving Akihito and Asami space. 

 

 

"I think we should, talk this out, this thing between us," said Akihito and Asami nodded in reply. "Ericka clearly likes you and I don't want to be the one that goes between you two," continued Akihito. 

 

 

"This isn't about Ericka. We could continue this amicable relationship without ever talking about it but you still do. Thank you, for giving me a chance to explain myself. How about tomorrow, at the bar in my hotel?" said Asami and Akihito agreed. Asami was relieved, he could finally sort out things with Akihito, fix his mistakes, have a chance to have more sushi dates.  

 

 

They had ice cream at McDonald's as desert. Ericka ordered a small serving of fries to dip in her ice cream while Asami looked at his daughter in wonder. "She got it from Kim Possible," whispered Akihito. Apparently, you can never comment about dipping fries in ice cream in Ericka's presence unless you want a five minute speech on why it's good. 

 

 

"Can I kiss you on the cheek?" asked Asami when he dropped Akihito and Ericka back home. Ericka nodded and lifted her face to receive it. Ericka glowed at receiving affection from him, clearly she longed for affection from her missing parent. Even though he knew that, he didn't want to overstep his boundaries and ruin this chance to redeem himself.  

 

 

"I'll see you tomorrow at 9 okay?" asked Asami before he left. "Yeah, see you tomorrow." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
